English Explanatory Dictionary

man on the Clapham omnibus

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any hypothetical reasonable person used by the Courts in considering questions of reasonableness; an everyman.
  2. Any ordinary person; everyman.

Word forms

man on the Clapham omnibus men on the Clapham omnibus

Etymology

First put to legal use in a reported judgement by Sir Richard Henn Collins MR in the English Court of Appeal libel case, McQuire v. Western Morning News (1903), who attributed it to Lord Bowen.

Synonyms

man on the Bondi tram man on the Shau Kei Wan tram reasonable person man on the street
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